Tap Into Employee Strengths to Be a Better Manager

Think of your favorite companies and what they do for you. Nordstrom for example, is a company known for high-class customer service…but the Nordstrom brand is built by the sales people who work at there. That exceptional service is a reflection of strong people and strong management. The manager/employee dynamic can drive a brand but…

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Using Brain Science to Set Smart Goals

The SMART Goals (or Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound Goals) concept came out over 30 years ago. Think about all of the things that have been developed in the last 30 years and then think about if we’re still trying to set goals in the same way. I actually think SMART Goals are a…

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Use Cognitive Diversity to Get the Most Out of the Workplace

The power of having cognitive diversity in the workplace is the same power that companies try to attain through strong leadership and great communication. It’s a more inclusive, collaborative, and open space where people feel empowered to create and implement ideas. Workforce diversity isn’t simply about fairness—thankfully most organizations have moved beyond that low threshold…

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5 Key Ways to Be a Better Leader

Leadership is always challenging—in today’s environment, where change happens more quickly than ever and a leader’s sphere of influence is ever-widening, the leadership challenge hits on many levels. What do successful leaders do? What are key behavioral traits that strong leaders possess and act upon? Where are organizational priorities for leadership? Last week at the…

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Overcoming Challenges for High Performing Teams

It seems as though workplace teams have been studied to death in recent years, and the verdicts are in. They’re a success – and a disaster. When teams are high performing, organizations see big productivity improvements and higher innovation. When teams aren’t functioning well, organizations must deal with low engagement, waning productivity and at worst,…

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Finding Meaning In Work

I was reading a McKinsey article online the other day which introduced this concept of the Meaning Quotient (MQ). Together with IQ (Intelligence or Intellectual Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient), these 3 Qs are essential factors or characteristics that a workplace should have in order to inspire peak performance. The article defines ’meaning’ as “a…

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Putting the Leadership Multiplier Effect into Action

Liz Wiseman is a bestselling author, speaker and executive advisor. Her work, including her latest books Multipliers How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter and The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our School. In gearing up for ASTD 2013 and her keynote, I got really excited about the concept of leadership multipliers—what kinds of…

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How Cognitive Diversity Can Boost Innovation

Fast Company recently published a new article on Leadership, The 4 Job Types That Make Innovation Happen. The article explores the notion that companies are generally composed with four types of workers: Thinkers, Builders, Improvers, and Producers. These four types of workers are similar to our concept of cognitive diversity and how incorporating it into…

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Why Innovation Isn’t Conventional

Think about innovation…what are the first words that pop into your head? Creative, ideas, boundless, new, unique, novel. Chances are that the word constraint doesn’t spring immediately to mind. However, according to preeminent management, innovation, and learning thinker, Dr. John Seely Brown, of USC, constraints are actually critical to creating and boosting innovation. “Contrary to…

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